Kelce Signs 4 Year $57.25M Contract Extension

[CanDB]

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nfl...?ocid=msedgdhp

Travis Kelce gets $57.25M contract extension over 4 years, including $28M guaranteed money. This gives him a 6 year contract with KC.

Some are going to say that KC is overspending for its stars, but if managed properly, it does not hurt to have great talent, and continuity.

[dizzolve]

It's going to be very hard to keep all the talent they've found. Can they keep up the great drafting?

[CanDB]

It's going to be very hard to keep all the talent they've found. Can they keep up the great drafting?

The one thing I feel about this organization, if they can manage the lower end of their budget with decent quality, they will be tough to beat for many years. I think good management can find youth, that can fill some holes and for reasonable cost...until they serve enough time to get a nice raise.

[Butler By'Note]

The Chefs already have over $200 million committed to salaries for 2021 (prior to the Kelce extension) the NFL and NFLPA have already agreed to a likely cap of $175 million next season. They have over $100 million committed to just 6 players (prior to the Kelce extension).

That's a very very very top heavy roster, and they're going to face some tough decisions very quickly. It's unlikely they will be able to gt enough high quality performances out of minimum salaries to make it all work out.

[CanDB]

I would argue that Kelce is not the highest paid TE (per annum) and is less than $4M more than Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper, who are quite good but not of Kelce's caliber. Kelce is a game changing player, and one of the team leaders. Sure, Mahomes got paid, but he's the best QB and very young. You can put him, Kelce, Hill and pretty much any combo of decent WRs and RBs together and score 40 points per game. On that note, watch for their rookie RB to have a good season minus Damien Williams. And if they keep their D relatively similar, they will win loads of games.

[CanDB]

Interesting take on how KC is able to pay such big contracts and remain competitive...

https://www.nfl.com/news/kelce-mahom...yers-big-money

How on the pandemic-wrecked, salary-capped earth are the Kansas City Chiefs paying all these high-priced players?

It's a question asked a lot recently. Every time it's reported a different K.C. player has been handed a bag of gold doubloons, the head-scratching from the general public takes some more hair off its already thinning scalp.

I thought the NFL had a hard salary cap? I thought the Chiefs didn't have much money left?

It's always been truth that if a team is good enough at financial gymnastics, the salary cap is but a standing obstacle to be leaped around. Through contract restructures, renegotiations, turning base salary into bounces to push money into future years and tacking on voiding years at the end of deals to spread cap hits, teams can usually find a way to make their desires fit under the hard cap. That the salary cap has increased by about $10 million per year up to this season has been beneficial as well -- pushing money into the future hasn't hurt with the cap increases (how that changes in future years due to the pandemic remains uncertain).

The Chiefs' situation, however, is different. This isn't really a case of the team doing aerobatics to fit the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones and Travis Kelce under the cap.

Nope. It is the players making it all work.

The group of K.C. players has taken team-friendly deals that are structured in a way as to give the Chiefs flexibility (toss in some creative-thinking bonus points to the club's front office).

Neither Jones nor Kelce got signing bonuses, which kept Kansas City's 2020 cap figure low.

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo noted Friday on Good Morning Football that the Chiefs were able to extend all three key players while adding only about $8 million to the payroll in 2020.

The players' desire to stay together for years to come and their willingness to leave cash on the negotiating table have enabled the Chiefs to get creative with their structures. Take a gander at K.C.'s salary cap figures at Over The Cap, Mahomes, Kelce or Jones are not in the top-four earners on the team this year.

Kelce's deal, which got done Thursday, is a prime example of a player giving the team flexibility. On its face, the extension is worth $57 million in new money over four years, with $28 million in guarantees. The scratch is good, particularly for a depressed TE market. With two years left on his previous deal, it keeps Kelce in K.C. for the next six seasons. Normally with these types of extensions, there is a hefty signing bonus that ups the current salary-cap figure significantly. Not this time. They'll pay the star TE the same $9.25 million he was already scheduled for this season. Zero more.

Per Garafolo, the cash flow on Kelce's deal runs: $9.25 million in 2020; $13.25 million in 2021; $7.5 million in 2022; $13.25 million in 2023; $15 million in 2024; and $17.25 million in 2025.

Other than a $4 million bump next year, the short-term cost is uber-team-friendly. This is basically $30 million over the next three years ($10 million per, which is where the TE market was before) and then the team will play it by ear from there.

Should Chiefs players take 'team-friendly' deals?

Kelce is betting big he'll still have massive value by the end of the extension. Backloaded deals like this aren't common -- they take a player willing to give huge amounts of leverage to the team. It's possible Kelce never sees the end of this deal, and it's reworked again as he enters the twilight of his career.

So, why are the Chiefs able to get so many great players to buy into these team-friendly contracts?

Blame Mahomes.

When the world's best football player is willing to leave money on the table, it begins a trend. (Sidenote: It's easy to "leave money" when what's being taken off that table is nearly half a billion dollars).

Not only did Mahomes ink a decade-long extension that will likely have him looking underpaid in a few years, he was vocal about the fact that he'd left money on the table so the Chiefs could keep a great team around him.

The top NFL player on the planet set the course: Let's all give up a little to build a dynasty.

His teammates have followed suit.

Now the Chiefs have a corps of star players under contract that could rule the AFC for years to come.

[Butler By'Note]

Interesting take on how KC is able to pay such big contracts and remain competitive...

https://www.nfl.com/news/kelce-mahom...yers-big-money

How on the pandemic-wrecked, salary-capped earth are the Kansas City Chiefs paying all these high-priced players?

It's a question asked a lot recently. Every time it's reported a different K.C. player has been handed a bag of gold doubloons, the head-scratching from the general public takes some more hair off its already thinning scalp.

I thought the NFL had a hard salary cap? I thought the Chiefs didn't have much money left?

It's always been truth that if a team is good enough at financial gymnastics, the salary cap is but a standing obstacle to be leaped around. Through contract restructures, renegotiations, turning base salary into bounces to push money into future years and tacking on voiding years at the end of deals to spread cap hits, teams can usually find a way to make their desires fit under the hard cap. That the salary cap has increased by about $10 million per year up to this season has been beneficial as well -- pushing money into the future hasn't hurt with the cap increases (how that changes in future years due to the pandemic remains uncertain).

The Chiefs' situation, however, is different. This isn't really a case of the team doing aerobatics to fit the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones and Travis Kelce under the cap.

Nope. It is the players making it all work.

The group of K.C. players has taken team-friendly deals that are structured in a way as to give the Chiefs flexibility (toss in some creative-thinking bonus points to the club's front office).

Neither Jones nor Kelce got signing bonuses, which kept Kansas City's 2020 cap figure low.

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo noted Friday on Good Morning Football that the Chiefs were able to extend all three key players while adding only about $8 million to the payroll in 2020.

The players' desire to stay together for years to come and their willingness to leave cash on the negotiating table have enabled the Chiefs to get creative with their structures. Take a gander at K.C.'s salary cap figures at Over The Cap, Mahomes, Kelce or Jones are not in the top-four earners on the team this year.

Kelce's deal, which got done Thursday, is a prime example of a player giving the team flexibility. On its face, the extension is worth $57 million in new money over four years, with $28 million in guarantees. The scratch is good, particularly for a depressed TE market. With two years left on his previous deal, it keeps Kelce in K.C. for the next six seasons. Normally with these types of extensions, there is a hefty signing bonus that ups the current salary-cap figure significantly. Not this time. They'll pay the star TE the same $9.25 million he was already scheduled for this season. Zero more.

Per Garafolo, the cash flow on Kelce's deal runs: $9.25 million in 2020; $13.25 million in 2021; $7.5 million in 2022; $13.25 million in 2023; $15 million in 2024; and $17.25 million in 2025.

Other than a $4 million bump next year, the short-term cost is uber-team-friendly. This is basically $30 million over the next three years ($10 million per, which is where the TE market was before) and then the team will play it by ear from there.

Should Chiefs players take 'team-friendly' deals?

Kelce is betting big he'll still have massive value by the end of the extension. Backloaded deals like this aren't common -- they take a player willing to give huge amounts of leverage to the team. It's possible Kelce never sees the end of this deal, and it's reworked again as he enters the twilight of his career.

So, why are the Chiefs able to get so many great players to buy into these team-friendly contracts?

Blame Mahomes.

When the world's best football player is willing to leave money on the table, it begins a trend. (Sidenote: It's easy to "leave money" when what's being taken off that table is nearly half a billion dollars).

Not only did Mahomes ink a decade-long extension that will likely have him looking underpaid in a few years, he was vocal about the fact that he'd left money on the table so the Chiefs could keep a great team around him.

The top NFL player on the planet set the course: Let's all give up a little to build a dynasty.

His teammates have followed suit.

Now the Chiefs have a corps of star players under contract that could rule the AFC for years to come.

That's great, and it's awesome they all feel good about it, but the salary cap is going down to $175 million next year and could be around that mark for a few seasons. When you have 6 players (not including Kelce) taking up $100 million of that $175 million, it's going to take it's toll.

They can brag about team friendly deals, but the reality is, a lot of supporting cast will not be around in 2021.

[CanDB]

That's great, and it's awesome they all feel good about it, but the salary cap is going down to $175 million next year and could be around that mark for a few seasons. When you have 6 players (not including Kelce) taking up $100 million of that $175 million, it's going to take it's toll.

They can brag about team friendly deals, but the reality is, a lot of supporting cast will not be around in 2021.

This is just a friendly question, but would you bet against them this year? I think they can repeat, or at least make a real run for it.

[dizzolve]

we'll see how long that lasts... Pretty cool that they're taking a lot less to stay together. It'll be hard to see players a lot less talented getting a lot more cheese though.

Who will be the first to break for the cheese?

[beastlyskronk]

The salary cap doesn’t really exist, it’s just a made up thing to garner fan interest

[Hadez]

The Chiefs just won the Super Bowl. They will not have cap problems in 2020 and will probably be favored to win the SB.

Do not think the Chiefs are too worried about 2021-2022 when maybe they can enter 2021 being back to back Champs. There is some speculation about the cap going down and what will happen to contracts but at this point all we know is the cap will go down and the players do not want the reduced cap to hit all in one year...the players want a cap lowering to be spread over multiple years.

Basically I think teams are trying to win in 2020 and will deal with the 2021 and 2022 problems when those years are here.